WOODLAND PLAY UNDER 5s welcomes home-schooling families and those with 0 – 5s, with provision for the babies too. Meet with Liz and Ali at the Play Area every Wednesday in term-time 1:30 – 3:30. Feel free to leave earlier to pick up older children from school.

WOODLAND PLAY AFTER SCHOOL CLUB welcomes 5-8 year olds and their siblings, accompanied by a parent. Meet with Rhiannon at the Orchard every Wednesday in term time 3:45 – 5:00.THE CLUB IS TAKING A BREAK FOR A FEW WEEKS. WE HOPE TO BE BACK IN APRIL/MAY 2018.

We ask for a Pay As You Feel donation with a guide price of £3 per child.

Our Woodland Play Sundays (and sometimes Saturdays) came about when some parents told us they were at work during the week, or wished for sessions that both parents could attend.

Hurray, we heartily agree that Woodland Play is for parents as well as children!

Our monthly weekend sessions run slightly longer than the weekly ones, and ofen have a special seasonal theme.

We ask for a Pay As You Feel donation with a guide price of £5 per child.

COMING UP SOON!

A Diary of Woodland Play events for families learning together:

24 February Night Walk 4:30 – 7:00

18th March Equinox Celebrations 1:30 – 4:00

22nd April TBD 1:30 – 4:00

20th May Make a Scarecrow 1:30 – 4:00

24th June Solstice Gathering and Picnic 4:00+

JULY to be decided

FEBRUARY NIGHT WALK 24th February 4:30 – 7:00

We can’t promise the sky will look like this. You’d need to go to the Peak District to see a Dark Sky like this one. But we promise to explore our “other” senses as we wait for the sky to darken.

David will bring his scope so we can look at the stars if there’s a cloudless evening. And if the clouds crowd in, we will have our own constellations set up in the meadow, so you can go on a star trek with your torch! Hot drinks at the orchard to finish. Bring your torch for getting home safely.

EVENTS ALREADY PAST

Wassail, Sunday 21st January 2018

Winter Solstice, 17th December 2017

Hallowe’en, 29th October 2017

WINTER SOLSTICE 21st December 2016, 3 – 5PM

It’s the shortest, darkest and probably the coldest day of the year, so why the celebration? Imagine wrapping up warm, standing around a campfire with a hot drink and staring into the bright flames. It’s a perfect time to reflect on the year that is passing and let hope rise for the year ahead. After all, tomorrow and for the next 183 days, the day will be getting longer and the world getting brighter. Now that’s worth celebrating!

This event is FREE with drink and cake on sale, but you are welcome to bring something of your own to toast on the fire too.

30th October holiday event HALLOWE’EN 1-4-PM

Lots of families came out with us for Hallowe’en. We collected strange looking leaves, berries, seedheads and sticks as we walked through the park – imagining what spooky items they could be! At the Orchard, plenty of clay, sticks, leaves and glue were available to make fantastical creatures, tree spirits, and masks. Followed by pumpkin soup. Yum!

This event is on SUNDAY 30th October 1 – 4PM and is aimed at 5-8s and their siblings. Hallowe’en is a time for letting the imagination roam free prompted by long shadows and tricks of the light. There’ll be games, craft activities and a campfire for creative spells, poems or stories … and for having warming yummy soup!

August 2016 holiday events GET NATURALLY CONNECTED and WILD AT HEART

Wednesday 3rd August 1 – 4PM, GET NATURALLY CONNECTED is for 3-8s and their siblings. We’ll be going on a trail around the park getting connected with nature through a variety of actvities, with lots of scope for your own ideas! And finish up with campfire snacks. Children’s places costs £5 (£4) each, adults come free. Please book with Liz via hoccic@gmail.com or 0121 628 2680.

Wednesday 31st August 1 – 4PM WILD AT HEART is for 0 – 5s and their siblings. We will stay at the orchard, explore and experiment through our senses. This is a drop-in / drop-out session, with little ones in mind as you may not want to stay the whole time. Children’s places are £3 (£2) each, adults come free. Please book with Liz via hoccic@gmail.com or 0121 628 2680.

June 2016 Holiday event SCARECROW DAY

On Wednesday 1st June 1 – 4PM, Jenny and Liz will be guiding families as they make scarecrows for the orchard and decorating the place with scary faces. Please bring suitable clothes for your scarecrow by rummaging through cast-offs at home, or foraging in charity shops on the High St! There are no tickets to purchase, but booking in advance is advisable Please book with Liz via hoccic@gmail.com or 0121 628 2680.

More information to follow …

April 2016 Holiday event BEES ARE US

On Wednesday 6th April 1 – 4PM, Verity and Cristina join Liz to go a bit crazy about bees. We’re making them, dancing like them, even singing about them, bombing places with seeds of flowers they love, and eating food made with their wonderful honey! Please book with Liz via hoccic@gmail.com or 0121 628 2680, but BEE very quick as sessions tend to get booked up.

We’re hoping schools will join in our Design-A-Flower challenge, and that local businesses will come up with some sweet offers you’d like to take up.

TheBeeQuiz is ready and downloadable. Be amazed at these facts and figures about bees.

LG Davis (Printers) have helped us produce a fabulous leaflet about pollination and why it is so important we look after honeybees and their fellow pollinators in the wild. Look out for the leaflet at the Kings Heath farmers markets coming up.

Friend and beekeeper Enid Peel is germinating dahlia seedlings to encourage gardeners to have beautiful flowers that are also bee-friendly. We will have these on offer at Kings Heath farmers market in the near future.

York Supplies sell a wide range plants and less common seedvarieties that are bee-friendly. Look out for the Perfect for Pollinators symbol or find out more from the RHS here.

Johnstans Butchers and KHBA are sponsoring our whole series of Nature-in-the-Community events this year.

Thank you everyone!

February 2016 Half-Term Holiday Event POTATOES ARE US!

On 17th February, Jenny and Liz are going overboard about potatoes! We’re going to play, plant, craft and eat them. We have a fabulous keyhole garden to plant them in, and hopefully some sacks or builders bags will be put to use for planting as well. Then there’s potato sack races, potato and spoon races, “That’s not a Potato …”, a potato quiz, potato cuts, potato monsters, sweet potatoes baked in the campfire, and anything else we can dream up in the meantime.

Later in the year and hoping for a bumper crop, we will be giving at least half of our potato harvest away to a food bank, or if that’s not possible to The Really Junk Food Project.

Schools can get involved by holding a Potato Day in their classrooms and turn the learning opportunities into anything to do with potatoes. Retailers can get involved by creating window displays or deals, special dishes and possibly secret recipes to celebrate the humble potato. We might even inspire you to plant some in your own back garden !

Please book very soon with Liz via hoccic@gmail.com or 0121 628 2680. We think places may go like Hot Potatoes!

Donate

Funds raised here contribute mainly to running support sessions through our Stick Around programme. If you would like to donate for something specific, please add a note, or get in touch with us to discuss. Once you click the button you’ll be taken to your PayPal page.

Honey for Sale

1 lb. jars of honey from our hives at Highbury, expertly blended by Sharif Khan. Contact us to arrange collection (from us or local outlets).